Oregon buddies! I'm going to be going to visiting portland in a few weeks, I've never been to portland or even Oregon for that matter. I need some advice on what to do, where to eat. what to see etc..

I will be going with my gf and we will be only there for one weekend so we don't have much time, we're going to try to pack as much in as we can for this weekend trip. A friend told me to try to stay in downtown so we're going to look for a hotel there, is that a good place to stay? We are going to try to get around with taxi/public transportation, is that a good idea? or should we rent a car?

any advice is appreciated!

thanks all!
Jon

i also heard you guys have some bombass food trucks, where are they? lol

A hotel in the downtown area should work. Public transp is v. good here - buses + light rail (the MAX or the streetcar) - see trimet.org, so you def can get by w/o a car. I like the Riverside Marriott because my employer uses it. It is close to the streetcar & the waterfront park.

What to visit ? Where to start... Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, Rose Garden / Washington park, Pioneer courthouse square, the waterfront park I mentioned above, ... there's more but i can't think of it all.

For food, check out the world-famous food carts - http://www.foodcartsportland.com/maps/ , the bigger the pod the larger the selection. Voodoo doughnuts if you like fatty dough. Def a brewery. The more sophist. restaurants like Andina or Le Pigeon are also recommended.

I'd probably skip the Chinese garden if you only have a weekend. Japanese garden is more impressive. See if you can book a limo or van tour of Oregon wine country for a romantic jaunt with the GF. Take a bus to SE Hawthorne to get some local Portland flavor.

A hotel in the downtown area should work. Public transp is v. good here - buses + light rail (the MAX or the streetcar) - see trimet.org, so you def can get by w/o a car. I like the Riverside Marriott because my employer uses it. It is close to the streetcar & the waterfront park.

What to visit ? Where to start... Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, Rose Garden / Washington park, Pioneer courthouse square, the waterfront park I mentioned above, ... there's more but i can't think of it all.

For food, check out the world-famous food carts - http://www.foodcartsportland.com/maps/ , the bigger the pod the larger the selection. Voodoo doughnuts if you like fatty dough. Def a brewery. The more sophist. restaurants like Andina or Le Pigeon are also recommended.

Try review sites like tripadvisor, yelp, etc for more ideas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shinyside

Hi,

I'd probably skip the Chinese garden if you only have a weekend. Japanese garden is more impressive. See if you can book a limo or van tour of Oregon wine country for a romantic jaunt with the GF. Take a bus to SE Hawthorne to get some local Portland flavor.

Best
ss

thanks a lot guys, this is exactly the sort of advice i was looking for , keep em coming if there's anything else!

if you are even a slight fan of sushi...most definitely check out Saburo. I am not a huge fan of sushi due to its small portions and how much the bill stacks up if you are hungry...but i'd eat at Saburo for days, it is so amazing and affordable.

just as an example, their normal salmon order, the sashimi is the same width as my iphone 4 and longer.

I agree with shinyside: skip Chinese Gardens and definitely get to Hawthorne.
One of my favorite places to eat is Hawthorne, Chez Machin. It's really small and easy to miss. I've never had to wait, even on a weekend, so maybe it's not that popular, but if you like French, it's great.

Portland has an insane titty bar per capita rating see if your Girlfriend will be down with that lol. Really though Portland is somewhat like New Orleans in the terms of people watching. Go to VooDoo doughnuts and within an hour you will see some weird shit. Last time I was at VooDoo (two weeks ago) I watched a tall white GTL douche walk in and knock out one of the hippies running the cash register. I guess he laid him out because he asked for directions to some bar in the vicinity and the cashier gave him directions to a gay bar. The dougnuts are cheap but the entertainment is priceless